Friends of an Angus museum want to see their circle extended to secure the facility’s future.
Brechin Town House is welcoming visitors again after a two-year pandemic shutdown.
And it’s been welcomed by the community after there were fears Covid could lead to a permanent closure.
Brechin and Kirrie were the last two Angus Alive museums to re-open after restrictions eased.
And now the Friends of Brechin Town House Museum (FoBTHM) are rallying in a bid to bring more people through the doors.
Committee call
But they need more willing hands to help the group thrive.
The museum is open from Wednesday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm.
FoBTHM have started a partnership with the council culture trust and members are giving guided tours of the museum this week.
Those will include an insight into some of the fascinating items in the museum’s ground floor gallery.
And a tour of the Brechin Photographic Society exhibition is being staged as part of the re-opening.
Plans for future events are also being developed.
They include an evening talk in early summer – the first since February 2020.
The Friends said: “This is a very exciting opportunity to rekindle the local community’s interest in their lovely town museum.
“Lockdown has encouraged everyone to think local and to explore what is on their doorstep.
“What we are trying to do is get a new Friends committee formed, so we are looking for at least another six or seven people to join us.
“We must try to help do what we can to maximise people’s enjoyment of the museum when it is open.
“And this is a great new opportunity to support all the cultural, heritage and tourist providers who now have the chance to open their doors again.”
Anyone interested in joining the Friends can visit their Facebook page, or drop in to the museum.
Rich heritage
The Town House is one of the cathedral city’s historic municipal buildings.
It was built around 1790.
In 2003 it opened as a museum.
Brechin’s artefacts had previously been on display in the Mechanics Institute and the town library.
The Friends group was formed at that time of the Town House opening.
And since then it has continued to run regular events at the museum, promoting local history and highlighting figures such as Brechin’s ‘father of radar’, Sir Robert Watson-Watt.
